Season Preview: Mark Jackson’s Reward — More Pressure

At some point in the 2013-14 season, Mark Jackson will miss the bleak days of his 2011-12 debut campaign. The lockout-shortened season, filled with mismatched parts and assorted injuries, ended with the Warriors racing to the bottom of the standings in an attempt to retain their lottery pick. An unintended consequence of the flop was a free pass for the team’s rookie coach. Despite many questionable choices throughout the year, it was hard to heap too much blame on Jackson for the losing given the pieces he had to work with and the team’s justified tank job. The 2012-13 season saw the Warriors retooled and surprisingly resurgent. Jackson and his lead assistant Michael Malone received the usual dose of tough love that die hards reserve for their objects of affection — but the overall sentiment when the playoff run was done was satisfaction. The coaching staff had put together game plans to win meaningful games in extenuating circumstances against quality opponents. Jackson’s reward for the team’s impressive run? Higher expectations, less support, and more pressure.

Mark Jackson has been an NBA coach for two seasons, but his third campaign will be his official welcome to the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of suits on the sidelines. In a league where the coach of the year can be unceremoneously dumped by his team for underperforming in the playoffs (against Jackson’s team, no less), job security is ancient history. Gone is the era when old schoolers like Jerry Sloan roamed the court and had a prayer of withstanding the fickle ups and downs from one season (or series) to the next. A few factors will combine to make Jackson’s season a particularly pressure-filled one.

For the first time in a long time, the Warriors are expected to win. And not just by the usual fanatics predicting that this will finally be the year. The Warriors had a coming out party of sorts last spring against the Nuggets and Spurs. Stephen Curry has been tapped by the NBA power brokers as a hot young talent. Andre Iguodala adds a potent new piece to the mix. The networks have slotted in even more of the Warriors’ ratings-friendly games to the national TV slate. If the team doesn’t jump out to a 50-win pace, there will be questions about whether it is underperforming. And Mark Jackson will have to answer them.

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Jackson’s favorite answer — the underdog narrative — may have run its course. When the Warriors were emerging from mediocrity last season, Jackson leaned heavily on the us-vs-them dynamic to explain success and deflect criticism. “My guys,” Jackson would relate, had unshakable faith in their own abilities. Those who doubted them just provided more fuel for the team’s fire. But this year, the Warriors will have to adjust to being the target rather than the team taking aim. If Jackson finds his squad losing to teams considered inferior on paper, the “no one respects us” line will seem more like an invitation than an explanation.

Finally, whether justified or not, the Malone question will hang over Jackson’s performance this season. How much of a role did the lead assistant play in the team’s prior success? If the team backslides on defense, Malone’s absence will be cited as a cause. If Jackson struggles to manage the intricacies of in-game coaching, questions will be raised about whether his lack of experience is limiting him. While Jackson’s Xs and Os ability is likely underestimated because he’s so good at feeding the media meaningless platitudes, the incredibly steep learning curve of being an NBA coach is a real challenge. Malone’s presence provided a bit of veteran composure in the huddle (both the coaches-only huddle Jackson tended to do at the beginning of time-outs and the full-team one he’d convene to close them). Jackson may have seen a lot on his first two NBA seasons, but he undoubtedly has a whole lot more to learn.

There are an endless number of things to keep an NBA coach up at night. As the Warriors ride the momentum of last season into a new campaign, three particular issues stand out in my mind as issues Jackson will have to navigate from day one:

The Iguodala/Thompson/Barnes platoon — Most NBA coaches would kill to have this problem. Jackson will have to split up minutes at primarily two positions among three starter-quality players. Whenever the Warriors lose this season, a leading narrative will be “they would have won if X (the player of the three logging the fewest minutes) got more run.” Whether there’s any truth to the criticism will depend on whether Jackson finds a way to get the best out of each of the players. Iguodala seems like a natural glue guy, sharing the ball and doing the dirty work on defense. He should be the easiest to slot into a beneficial role. Thompson and Barnes will be more challenging. Thompson has been wildly inconsistent through his young career. Can Jackson find a way to get more of the lights-out shooter and less of the can’t-make-a-lay-up disappearing act, or does the inconsistency have more to do with Thompson than the way he’s used? Barnes likewise spent much of his rookie season deferring to others before exploding in the playoffs. The field promotion following Lee’s injury seemed to provide an invitation for Barnes to assert himself. Will he play the same with Lee back and Iguodala added ahead of him in the depth chart? The real risk if Jackson can’t find a way to blend the talents of this trio is lost opportunity. With so much potential talent stacked in a couple of positions, the Warriors’ ability to reach the next level will depend on getting efficient production from all three regardless of their ultimate minutes.

David Lee and Andrew Bogut, odd couple? — On paper, the Lee/Bogut pairing seemed like a match made in heaven. Both are tremendous passers. Bogut’s defense can cover for Lee’s obvious shortcomings. Lee’s offense can play the same role for Bogut’s. But for the limited time both shared the court last season, things never seemed to click. Bogut seemed frustrated with Lee’s defensive rotations (or lack thereof) and was most impressive defensively in the playoffs when he was free to roam the paint on his own. Lee expects his touches on offense, and may have to forego some if Bogut is going to be anything more than an afterthought in the Warriors’ offense. There’s no reason the two players can’t mesh their games together in a complementary way — but it hasn’t happened yet. Jackson’s ability to get the most from his front line (assuming they can stay healthy) is one obvious area where the team can improve upon its impressive 12-13 performance.

No. 2 at the 1 — Michael Malone wasn’t the only off-season departure who Jackson may miss. Jarrett Jack was a coach on the court for the Warriors for much of the season (despite the occasional head-scratching moves, particularly during the playoffs). He provided veteran swagger and stability. While Curry gradually grew into his alpha role as the season progressed, Jack still ran the team for many of their most important possessions. There are three separate scenarios where Jackson will need to find a replacement for Jack. The first — someone to handle the ball so Curry can play off it — should be the easiest. Iguodala, Thompson and new addition Douglas should all be able to fill the role. The second — a true back-up point guard to run the team when Curry gets a breather — will be a bit tougher. Douglas is not a traditional run-the-team guard, the Nuggets relied on point Iguodala for limited stretches with mixed results and Bazemore is still completely unproven as anything more than a guy to dribble the ball up court. Still, it’s not hard to imagine some combination of those three players getting the Warriors through the 8-10 minutes Curry should spent on the bench each night. The third scenario — Curry out for an extended period with injury — is the true nightmare. The Warriors’ entire offense could grind to a halt without a starter-caliber like Jack in the wings to fill in for Curry. The team likely would start Douglas in Curry’s place and run more of the offense through Iguodala, but this seems like an inelegant solution at best. Then again, so did subbing Barnes for an injured David Lee against the Denver Nuggets. Hopefully Curry will play 40 minutes a night for 82 games. But if not, Jackson’s creativity and resourcefulness with a post-Jack team will be tested.

Ultimately, Jackson will learn this year that the reward for exceeding expectations is higher expectations. He will be judged not on how far the Warriors have come in the three years under his tenure, but how far they can excel beyond their performance last year. Success is defined by what seems possible. In 2006-07, the Warriors celebrated like world champions upon squeaking into the playoffs because it was such an unthinkable goal. If the 2013-14 squad loses in the first round, the season will be a let-down because of how far they made it last year. Mark Jackson now has to live up to the expectations he helped elevate.

Landry was a league leader in PPS. The W’s are going to have to replace that. I also think that Landry played part of the midseason with an injury that hurt his performance, although not much was made of it at the time.
The NBA game is often decided in the last couple of minutes — the team that can’t be stopped wins.

I predict the new format will be a failure. The other MercNews blogs are used to under 30 comments, which is not the case here. We’ve gone from scrolling past the garbage to scrolling interminably just to relocate the gems.

Whatever improvements may be available will only occur if the MercNews reconfigures for ALL their blogs.

This looks to me like a pretty discouraging change for this blog.

dr_john

I don’t care what he weighs. His points per shot are what he needs to work on.

dr_john

Is Jermaine with the guys yet? Anyone know?

knick

I don’t think so. Which is not a good look considering new players are usually enthusiastic to meet their new colleagues. At this point I question his hunger for the game.

dr_john

You would question that, in spite of every public utterance since he signed with the Dubs. It is far more likely it has something to do with the week-long procedure he had done by Dr.Wehling in Germany on June 14, dontcha think?

I asked a question. You answered with an assumption. You know what they say about “assume”.

sartre

According to espn he was ranked 7th in pps (which doesn’t detract from the point you’re making):

Excellent point Sarte. Bogut and Green are all about character and defensive intensity. The new Warriors culture.

jsl165

knick-wit is always so easy to predict: worst possible take on the Dubs (idiotic beyond repair); best possible take on the Knicks (as if there’s actually a team there).

Still waiting on an actual thot from this kid. . . .

jsl165

I’m totally with you on this, Doc.

I say we give it another week, and if Adam is able to disengage from this BS by then, so much the better; otherwise, we might want to consider gathering up the troops — ideally, Adam, too — and going elsewhere. GSOM? Adam go independent? Any ideas, guys and gals?

It just ain’t the same with this dunderheaded Merc News crapola. Well, there’s a silver lining anyway: No one on this Board would ever be dumb enough to invest in Disqus (or the Merc News, for that matter).

C’mon, Adam. You’re too good to saddle us with this confused, scroll-happy goofiness. You must have an exit strategy — or a plan, at least. You can’t like this “new” stupidity.

JanG

Sadly, I’m losing interest in this blog. The ease of use, comfort in the familiarity, and simplicity are now gone. So much for progress

dr_john

JanG: I’m with you and as a matter of fact, just sent a very long e-mail to the Merc and to Adam, moments ago. Not my first to Adam. Previous experience with the Merc on the moderation software begs for some reasonable period of time. My messages to Disqus have determined that only the site owner can change the format embedding. I’m trying. Adam can’t change this by himself unless he wants to open his own blog, I think.

dr_john

It is EVERY Bay Area Newsgroup blog, not just the Merc. Thought I saw 188,000 posts all went “poof” together.

knick

And here I thought you left your deviant behavior with the old format. Oh well…
Anyway its obvious Adam can’t do much about disqus so instead of throwing a tamper tantrum why don’t you try to make the best out of it.

knick

Or maybe he chose to spend time with his son instead. A procedure done three months ago shouldn’t prevent him from being around the team. And if there were any complications we might have heard it by now.

RickP

I thought he was 7th overall, but first among PFs.

Gwydion Rhys

Love the idea of going independent. This unorganized thread style will never work as you get more than a couple hundred entries.

sartre

Sorry RickP, I thought you meant across all positions.

sartre

Ripley’s believe it or not: The hot hand.

“Few things in basketball are as fun as the burbling excitement that rumbles down from the crowd when a player hits one shot, then another, and gets the ball in position to try an even more difficult shot — and makes it. How could Stephen Curry not have been hot in raining 54 insane points on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden last season? Was it really just a random streak — basketball’s version of a run of “heads” in a series of coin flips?”

My bad. I could have been clearer.
Still, the fact remains that the PPS number suggests that he was an unusually efficient offensive player.
Replacing that efficiency is one of my concerns for this season.

Camelot

Tim Roye
‏@warriorsvox

Just one week till the opening of Training Camp #Warriors

sartre

CBS Eye on Basketball Podcast

“After discussing the musical “Wicked” and Kyrie Irving’s alleged appreciation of it, we get down and dirty into talk about Ethan’s beloved Golden State Warriors. Should David Lee still be in the plans even though he was a selection for All-NBA Third Team last season? Are they just that much better playing small ball and is Andre Iguodala and his fantastic defense hinting at the idea of playing small? Can they be an elite defense with or without Lee?

Dubcakes, told you you that you were one of the sharp pencils in the box, I knew given a day or two you be on top …back in the game. I can notr wait for this season to start, we are going to kick some serious as* this year!

Peter Moto

if we accept some of the premises that the article is making, we still have to recognize how individuals have unique characteristics, among them, differing degrees of self understanding. the article makes the reasonable assertion that the shooter who’s found a good groove is generally more likely to undermine his own success by becoming overconfident and pushing the degree of difficulty. my opinion of Curry, he possesses above average hoops i.q. and self awareness, and therefore better able to manage his streaks when he knows he’s ‘on’.

Peter Moto

has anyone else had a reply/comment get sucked into ‘moderation’ limbo and simply evaporate, never to re-appear in the thread ?

sartre

That happened to me yesterday, hon. moto. I have no idea what word in the innocuous post triggered moderation. When Chris later searched for the post to free it from purgatory it was nowhere to be found.

jsl165

Huh?

And here I’d given our puerile little troll the benefit of the (very little) doubt, referring to him as knick-wit, instead of the more appropriate knick-twit.

Oh, well. Still waiting. . . .

sartre

I have that sense of Curry too. For the most part he wants to score within the flow of the offense but he nevertheless recognizes when he has a good offensive rhythm going and is prepared to ride it, particularly when faced with favorable match-ups. Maybe others tend to become over-confident after they hit two or three consecutive shots only for the law of averages to balance out as they start throwing up too many bad shots. But Curry has a legitimate basis for trying to maintain a roll given his genius as a shooter from deep. What beyond the arc is a bad shot for him?

Dubcakes

I yi yiyi:

You are so sweet to me:)

I know you got that sharpener hidden somewhere…I’ve been frustrated with this “Disgust” system..yes, I purposely misspelled the word. It doesn’t follow any logic when you post. You are constantly hunting down your last lead/post. When you hit the reply button, I end up posting to myself when I am trying to address others! Aggravating to say the least. So, it’s a challenge.

Anyway, so glad the Dubs preseason is just around the corner 10/05 against the Lakers in Ontario. Only local KNBR 680 station is broadcasting it. I cannot wait. All the positions seem loaded with depth. Everyone is hungry.

I don’t make predictions of wins but know that every effort made by those players will be left on the court. And believe me, they will bring their “A” game. Draymond, Steph, Bogut, Lee Klay, Barnes —Bring it on! I cannot wait. You cannot get rid of me that fast 🙂

JanG

Also happened to me yesterday. I assumed it got posted but never did see it. I posted the Coke recipe. Now I forgot it!

SurfCity

Same here. I read a few comments at the top and then just give up. I know I”m missing a bunch of stuff, but it’s just so much work to hunt for it.

I think the person at the Merc who made this decision had never participated in a blog in their life. Either that or they gave it only the most superficial amount of study before deciding on it.

It works “ok” on the Giants blog where rhere are a minimum of two new blogs every day, so the posts don’t get much longer than 100. But for this blog, it doesn’t work well.

Tired

Just testing, but NN seems to have upgraded himself (haha) from the Serbian Derrick Rose to the European Derrick Rose. Actually probably just a typo, or more hyperbole. This is laughable.

Tired

Looks to much like blake griffin.

Tired

Now you need to show the lowlights reel. Consider the context.

Tired

Not thrilled with the new format, but I will try to give it time. It is a good thing that I have it set for the most recent first since it takes forever to get to the bottom of the page. Title headings might be nice for threads as long as you are going this route. Since this is still the summer wasteland, I’ll give it more time. Otherwise, i predict more and more dissatisfaction as the topics get more interesting and people want to keep up. Basically this format reminds me of something that was invented by a bunch of nerds working for a government/corporate institution.

dr_john

I had one post into moderation—immediately hit “edit” and found the culprit: I had used “did.dling”, changed to “idling” and went right through.

Camelot

ditto, I have learned to collapse threads to the non sports posts to speed up things.

Thurston Hunger

The W’s did DL’ing enough in the past, hoping they have a run of remarkable health this year.

Thurston Hunger

It’s still pre-season for the W’s and this blog. Sure would be nice to put in the proposed fix for the margin. Then if Discqus could add titles and a most-recently-touched thread option that would help out as well.

It is silly that the Recent Comments just link to the full blog they came from. And did Disqus remove the Comment Feed from the bottom?

Lastly the rhythm of the NBA season should help some, but we are a prolix (yet anti-flopping) bunch so 100 comments over 24 hours will likely happen far more often than JON pulls a double-double.

Camelot

GGS: What Seth Curry Brings to the Golden State Warriors

There’s a new Splash Brother in town. The Golden State Warriors signed
Seth Curry, Stephen Curry’s younger brother, to a non-guaranteed
contract on August 23rd, which happened to be his birthday. Curry went
undrafted out of Duke University. Since his contract is non-guaranteed,
he will have to earn his spot onto the active roster, but there’s a good
chance he will be able to grab one of those final roster spots.
etc

Eurobasket 2013 ended for Serbia with the team getting the ticket to
FIBA World Cup, however what’s still unclear is if coach Dusan Ivkovic
would like to remain in his bench. He said that after 48 hours he will
be ready to say more, however he has the vote of his players and Nemanja
Nedovic couldn’t say anything else but he respects him.